


cover story

by fan_nerd



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gradual Relationship, M/M, Slow Burn, corporate roommates au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-09 03:18:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8873695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fan_nerd/pseuds/fan_nerd
Summary: Yuuri stares down at the person standing in the doorway. The stranger hisses, "Who do you think you are, anyways?"Quickly, before he can really think about it, Yuuri responds, "I'm Victor's boyfriend."It's a lie, but the words feel good in his mouth, and for some reason, he doesn't want to take them back.





	

**Author's Note:**

> happy holidays everybody ;)
> 
> this is dedicated to [ @animalcookiemurder](http://animalcookiemurderer.tumblr.com/) for yoi secret santa 2k16! hope you enjoy! :)

Yuuri decides to move to San Diego when his company's revenue department transfers.

The airline company offers their current employees a couple of options - they could either take the moving package that would help them transition with the company to California, or they could stay in Michigan and receive a benefits package for leaving. The city isn't exactly an affordable choice, but _Eastern Air_  already has an office here, and business has always thrived out on the west coast. The revenue department is going to move into a floor of the building that used to belong to the bank below them, and Yuuri proving his worth to the higher-ups, so they beg him to come along and he agrees. His career is currently one of the most important things in his life, and honestly, since he works at an airline, getting a discount ticket to go visit his family in Detroit is hardly any trouble.

Still, since rent is so outrageously expensive in San Diego, he decides to look around for a roommate. He scours the internet for something within his price range and a reasonable description - he'd prefer to live with another man and have a dog in the future, so he looks within those parameters and stumbles upon Victor Nikiforov's listing. Within his informational text, it says that he's a manager at a hotel within the gas light district, which would put Victor's condo in the middle of their jobs.

He sends the guy a message. The two of them seem to hit it off in emails, and since Yuuri has to fly over with his manager every time they conduct business in the city, getting ready for the transfer, he arranges his schedule so he has time to meet Victor during the four-month transition period. They get along, are not overly creeped out by each other, and Victor promises that his room will be empty and ready to move into as soon as Yuuri is firmly transferred.

Victor  _does_ warn Yuuri that he often likes to have romantic partners over, but assures the younger man that the bedrooms are on separate floors and are fairly insulated, sound-wise. He had paid extra for that when they were finishing the touches on the historical building's restoration a few years back.

Yuuri moves in, as promised, around November first. Victor is warm, welcoming, and offers him an air mattress for the time being. Yuuri even hands him a check for the first month's rent, which Victor insists is not necessary just yet, but Yuuri insists right back that he take it, no further objections. The two of them don't spend a lot of time with each other through the Winter months because Yuuri is either working, eating, or sleeping. Not to mention that the season in San Diego is a joke to Yuuri, who's spent most of his life in Detroit, where Winter meant falling flat on your ass on sheets of ice and watching people crashing into medians on the highway.

As Spring approaches, the two of them start chatting around dinnertime, trading quick anecdotes about their day. Yuuri sleeps through most of the night all those months, generally too tired from work to do anything other than go up to his room and collapse when he gets home. The first time he catches Victor with one of his one-night-stands, Yuuri wakes from a nap that had accidentally gone on for six hours. He had dozed off around seven, which is unfortunate for his already-shitty sleep schedule, and he tiptoes to the staircase with a yawn.

He halts with a jolt, startled by a low, wet sound. Yuuri's heart is thumping as he stands there and listens like a creep, but the last thing he hears is Victor whispering to someone. "Please, to the bedroom. My roommate is sleeping upstairs." Two pairs of bare feet slide against the wood paneling of the floor, and Yuuri nearly yelps as the other man's bedroom door clicks closed.

Yuuri finds that Victor had  _not_ lied about the walls, but he doesn't feel like going downstairs to get a snack any more.

//

Spring slips into Summer, and for some reason, catching Victor in the act of seducing someone helps loosen Yuuri's tongue. Victor is wholly unashamed to talk about his trysts when Yuuri asks, and for some reason, his shamelessness makes Yuuri laugh. Victor smiles at him over his plate of pasta, pointing the fork at Yuuri. "Have you been seeing anyone since you moved?"

Yuuri rolls his eyes. "When would I have time for that? You know as well as I do that all I do is work and sleep."

"You never know," Victor says, his eyes sparkling. "People always say to watch out for the quiet ones."

Yuuri scoffs, chuckling. "Yeah, right." He slurps on his noodles and winces when sauce winds up on his glasses. "The only thing you need to  _watch out_ for is me breaking my legs on our stairs. I'm clumsy enough to do something that stupid."

Victor laughs heartily, quickly replying, "I suppose I can do that."

Months fly by like that. Yuuri asks Victor if he's cool with him staying another year, and Victor agrees easily. Yuuri always pays his rent  _early_ along with his part of the bills. Occasionally, he brings work home, because he's tired of spending fifty hour weeks at the office, working out kinks in their handful of programs designed to log airway bills, handling customer complaints, and error reports. When Yuuri works from home, he often wraps up in the wee hours and hears Victor breeze into the condo with his conquests.

The man has a beautiful smile, a confident gait, and he's composed. With a detailed history in the service industry, his current position as one of the managers at a four-and-a-half star hotel downtown, and so forth, Victor is fairly accomplished. Yuuri has often wondered why he lives in so common a manner when he's obviously loaded, but when he gathers the courage to ask, Victor grins slyly and says, "Doesn't it suit me?"

Yuuri has to admit that it does.

He sits with second-hand embarrassment as he listens to Victor try to whisper to his partner. The other man is probably drunk, because he's super giggly this night, and, frankly, that kind of pisses Yuuri off, because the airline is coming to the end of their business year and he's exhausted.

Still, they respectfully creep to Victor's bedroom each time, and Yuuri realizes that he's just acting like a kid, getting frustrated over his roommate's ability to convince someone to come and spend the night with him. When he mentally puts things in that perspective, these things become a lot easier to deal with.

//

Their second year as roommates is comfortable.

Yuuri tells Victor funny stories about what happens at the office. Yuuri's stories usually revolve around the shitshow combination of their excessively talented new hire fresh out of college and the older woman who has to squint at the computer and always fills out half of her bill logs incorrectly, so someone else - the new hire, most likely - has to go back and fix it.

Victor reciprocates with lots of laughter and stories of his own. He tells one tale of someone spilling wine all over the hotel's largest banquet room. Another is about how a bride had to have her dress mended and mailed to her overnight because she'd been picky about who touched it and fixed it, so she had barely gotten the garment back in time to dash over to the chapel. She'd been at the concierge lounge for what felt like hours, forcing the hotel attendants to call the shipping company to check on the package, stopping only when other guests came over with questions or concerns.

As the two of them become friends, Yuuri also starts finding that people in the neighborhood recognize him. The grocery store clerks remember his face, his favorite restaurant is starting to memorize his order, and, most embarrassingly, his favorite liquor store has an attendant that reserves his favorite bottle of saké for him on Friday evenings. He's made a habit out of drinking it every weekend, and that store is the only place in town he's been able to find it, so he happily thanks them when he gets to the counter and checks out.

This also means that a handful of Victor's one-time lovers swing by in the early evening, perhaps hoping for a second shot at sharing his roommate's bed, and they are getting exceedingly less polite about their interjections.

One man and two women stop him over the course of six weeks, often asking questions about Victor that Yuuri quietly deflects while he turns his key in the door and leaves.

Autumn creeps into Winter, Yuuri hasn't slept in two days, and his workload is  _horrible_. There are one hundred angry, expectant emails in his inbox and he's vastly overwhelmed by how high his bosses' expectations are. He leaves the office in a huff, crappy coffee in hand, and drives home. When he gets to the condo, a young man is waiting with his arms folded over his chest and Yuuri's already infuriated at the sight of him.

Sometimes he wishes Victor would come home earlier on the weekends to deal with his own lovelorn one-night-stands. "He's not here, and he's not going to call," Yuuri spitefully murmurs, hurrying to slide his key in the door and get the hell up to his room so he can sleep.

The short man stops Yuuri by wrapping his grimy hand on Yuuri's elbow and the taller man jerks backwards unexpectedly. "Where is he, then?"

"Out," Yuuri replies dryly, shaking his fingers off and sliding into the place.

The stranger jams his foot in the door and glares angrily at Yuuri. At this point, Yuuri thinks that he's a lunatic, but he's patient and he just exhales sharply through his nostrils. "Just who do you think you are, huh? I've never even seen you here."

At this point, Yuuri knows that telling this guy the truth is useless. He has to think of something jarring to make this person leave, and his mind is currently running on empty. He finally decides on looking up, standing his ground with both feet planted, and saying, "I'm Victor's boyfriend." The other man steps back and gapes open-mouthed at Yuuri as he triumphantly closes the door.

By the time Yuuri gets to his room and tries to read through the rest of his emails, he finds that the words burn in his chest, but he thinks it's a good feeling.

//

Victor frowns sorely when Yuuri tells him the story in the morning. "What did he look like? I have to remember to be straightforward with him so he doesn't bother you. Honestly, I don't even remember taking down his number." His blue eyes wander off to the windows, lost in thought. "Should I contact the police?"

Yuuri nearly spits out his cereal in response. "No! It wasn't that serious." The exchange had made him a little nervous, sure, but he doesn't think the guy is going to come back and put nails in his tires. "Don't you have to get ready for work?"

"Yes," Victor sighs sadly. "Maybe I should stop bringing them over here. There are so many hotels in town I can't take people to, though, because I've pissed too many of the managers off and they've blacklisted me." Yuuri's eyes bug out at the notion and Victor chuckles, leaning on their kitchen table. "It happens. I've been in the industry for a while. I shouldn't stay at the places where I've worked or made enemies, and I wouldn't want to stay at the places I liked where I knew the staff."

"It's okay," Yuuri assures him, feeling a but guilty that Victor even has to consider this because they're roommates. "I really don't mind. You've been nothing but respectful about having them over. They're the ones that are being rude."

"Still," Victor says, humming dejectedly. "I'll see what I can do."

//

The next few weeks are outrageously silent. In a sick way, Yuuri wants to creep downstairs and put his ear to Victor's door to see if he's still having people over and having sex with them, but he refrains.

Early into the new year, Yuuri finally hears the telltale signs of his roommate bringing people home again, so he chalks it up to post-holiday and birthday jitters. With that taken care of, the random encounters with Victor's one-night-stands begin taking an increase yet again. He turns all of them away with the same line, sounding more and more confident every time he says it.

He  _knows_ Victor now. He knows how much Victor hates that his old trysts bother Yuuri when he's coming home; how that weighs guiltily on Victor's conscious. Victor is a nice guy. He just wants to do something he loves, which is to have sex, and he wants his roommate to be left in peace when he does it, and damn it, Yuuri's tired.

He's tired of seeing Victor cry over another fleeting date and another dropped call, and the fact that he can't get a hold of old friends and family late at night. When the woman comes up to him and asks the same kind of things he's been asked for more than a year now, he snaps. "We're dating! We have an open relationship, but I'm really tired of people coming up here and bothering him. Would you be talking to Victor like this? Would you want him to know that you're doing this?"

The woman shrinks a bit, her eyes glossy. "No," she quietly replies. As soon as she stalks off, Yuuri draws in a deep breath and is about to turn around and go inside the condo, but he sees a familiar face underneath the lamp post.

It's Victor, with a flush high on his cheeks and nobody standing next to him, staring at Yuuri in awe.

Both of them rush inside and Victor asks, "Do you do this often?"

Yuuri colors up to his ears. "Only...sometimes." Which is to say, he does it every time one of Victor's old sex partners shows up, but he refuses to tell his roommate that.

"Do you always say that you're my boyfriend?" Victor's eyes are exceedingly bright as he studies Yuuri, and Yuuri wants the ground to swallow him whole. He honestly feels like such a fool for having gotten into the habit of saying it.

"I just wanted to...help." Yuuri's mouth is going dry and he feels like he's on the verge of having a fucking panic attack, but Victor just pulls him close and squeezes him tightly.

"Thank you, Yuuri," Victor says, his voice soft and reverent. "That was sweet of you, and I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Yuuri whispers back, threatening to cry at the warmth of Victor's arms around him. "It's not your fault."

The two of them stay in and share booze, dozing off on the living room couches with an old movie playing in the background.

//

After this conversation, the two of them make a habit out of having Saturday nights in. Yuuri questions the change for weeks, but Victor ignores his inquiries, barging into Yuuri's room and making the shorter man promise to spend a few hours with him instead of with his computer, answering emails. The two of them generally flop on the couch and talk shit about bad horror movies, drink a few beers, and relax.

Yuuri seizes up as Victor waxes poetic and slumps against his shoulders the first few times, but after a few months of falling into the routine, the two of them laugh loudly next to each other, start impromptu drinking battles, and start to intrude on each other's space.

It's the first time Yuuri has felt so comfortable with another man, and he relishes in the feeling. Thoughts of the pressure of work leave him for a bit as he sips on his saké or beer, and he smiles with his eyes closed. He doesn't think Victor's had anybody over, either, and somehow, knowing that he fills the void of Victor's no-strings-attached affairs makes Yuuri feel loads better.

"You know," Victor waxes poetic midway through  _The Room_ , which they agree is too stupid to do anything other than to laugh through. "I had my first restaurant job when I was fourteen."

"Really?" Yuuri's eyes bug out and he guffaws before taking a sip of his drink. "How?"

"I was a convenient employee for a really stern older man who spoke shoddy English, so he kept me around in the kitchen," the older man sighs fondly, lips curling up in a smile. "He didn't have to pay me much, and he always paid cash. Besides, I was sleeping with his daughter."

Yuuri nearly drops his drink. "Oh my god, you're kidding."

"Nope," Victor quips back with a wink, and Yuuri chuckles. "We were both young and stupid, and I was lucky that she didn't get pregnant, honestly, but that's where I got my start."

"I never would have guessed," Yuuri replies quietly, face warming. "I mean, you're so ritzy. Now I feel embarrassed to tell you I've never even dated."

"Really? Not once?" Yuuri nods and Victor hums. "Wow. You didn't want to?"

"I mean, I guess I thought about it every once in a while," Yuuri admits quietly, fingers tapping his glass. "There was a girl I was interested in when I was in college, but I almost totaled my car when she leaned over and tried to hold my hand." Victor wheezes at that and Yuuri giggles as well. "It was really awkward, you know? She freaked me the fuck out, and I avoided her like the devil after that. I felt really bad, because she was pretty nice."

"Well, I'm glad I don't scare you," Victor says, looking up under his long, long lashes.

Maybe Yuuri is a bit tipsy, thus his tongue is a bit loose, but he cocks his eyebrow and slowly replies, "No, of course not. I like you."

"Really?"

Yuuri smiles softly, closing his eyes in exhaustion. "Yeah, really."

Victor leans further into him and beams like a child, happy to snuggle up to his prickly, cynical roommate. "I'm glad."

//

Yuuri hasn't seen or heard Victor with someone in months, but it dawns on him one day at work that maybe this is his fault.

He opens up his lunch box and grimaces, but not at the food; it had been Victor's turn to cook last night, and he'd made chicken and rice. It's one of the few things Victor can't screw up. Yuuri's in a complicated mood because he feels like he's forced Victor to stay in on Saturday nights instead of having a good time. He tries to rationalize that Victor had started the whole mess, dragging him from work on Saturday nights, but maybe that had been his fault because he'd let his workload pile up and get so bad that he couldn't ignore it on the weekends.

Long story short, he's  _stressed_.

The new hire - who is no longer a new hire, honestly, they've been here for months - comes into the break room and makes a quiet beeline for the fridge. When they take a quick glance at Yuuri, who is slumping against the microwave, Ky frowns. "Hey, you okay?"

Yuuri's head snaps to attention and he hurries to adjust his glasses. "Yeah. Well, kind of. Sorry, did you need to use this?"

The clock is still counting down, so they shrug. "It's not like I can't wait." Yuuri shuffles to the side and watches the twenty-something year old study him with a serious expression. He backs up until Ky finally says, "What's up?"

"Oh," Yuuri draws into himself as the buzzer goes off, hurrying to grab his lunch. "Just. Thinking about stuff at home."

"You still live with that one guy?" Ky takes the plastic lid off of their container and puts it in the microwave. "The one who used to have people over all the time?"

"That's just it," Yuuri groans as he stabs a plastic spoon into his meal. "He hasn't done that in ages. I feel like I'm constantly on guard about that fact, maybe even more than I was when he slept with people all the time."

"What changed?" A couple of their coworkers amble in and out of the break room for drinks, so they creep away with their steaming meals to talk in the hallway outside of the office.

Once they get settled, Yuuri flattens his mouth and murmurs, "The two of us have been hanging out more." Ky raises an eyebrow and Yuuri buries his face in his hands. "I know! I know that's got to be part of the problem. He must be bored of staying home all the time, but maybe he feels obligated to hang out with me so I won't work myself to death."

"Are you happy when you two have your movie nights?" Ky asks around their lo mein noodles.

"What?" Yuuri almost drops his spoon in surprise. "Well, yeah, I guess they're pretty cool, but that's not the point."

"Did he say that he wanted to stop hanging out on Saturday nights?"

"Well, no, but—"

Ky interrupts him by saying, "Then how do you know he doesn't like it? The way I see it, your roommate is having more fun spending time with you, and, in my opinion, he sounds kind of flirty. Has he made a move on you?"

"Oh, god, no!" Yuuri stammers with a blush hot on his face. "What the hell made you think that? This guy is  _way_ out of my league."

Ky reads between the lines and smiles. "But he's not straight?"

Yuuri looks furious as he bows his head and murmurs, "No..."

"So he  _could_ be hitting on you, then," Ky assures him, patting Yuuri on the shoulder.

"I guess he  _could_ be," Yuuri whispers hotly, feeling ashamed for even having the thought. " _But_ he isn't! Ky, stop grinning at me, I'm serious."

"Yeah, alright," Ky rolls their eyes and slurps their noodles. "I'm gonna laugh really hard and say that I told you so in the future, when you come in and say that he's been flirting with you."

Yuuri rolls his eyes and scarfs down the rest of his lunch before sighing and heading back to his desk.

//

The taller man is sorting through his papers and he's exhaustedly talking to someone on the phone. "I've told you a million times, Yura. Let the staff do their jobs. Would you please just focus on the bar for now?" His conversation partner says something that makes Victor scowl even more deeply. "If you're not going to listen to me and watch your temper, I'm going to fire you. I don't care how good you are. No.  _No_." He looks up when Yuuri walks downstairs, yawning, and scowls. "Yura, we'll talk later. Bye. No!  _Bye._ " Yuuri gives him a quizzical look and Victor smiles, but the bags under his eyes are deep. "Hey Yuuri. Tired?"

"Not as tired as you look," Yuuri replies quickly, going to the fridge to take out a bottled iced coffee. "Everything okay?"

Victor runs a hand through his hair and scuffles over to the couch after his roommate tosses him a bottle of beer. He opens it with a tab on his keychain, then sighs. "You remember Yuri, from work? The one who handles most of our hotel's financial analysis and planning?"

"Yeah?" Yuuri takes his chilled glass out of the freezer before he pours his beer into it. By now, he's made it routine to have saké on Fridays and beer on Saturdays. He pads over to the couch and waits for Victor to settle next to him before he takes a sip of his drink and clicks remotes to get to their video streaming service. "What did he do this time?"

Victor rolls his eyes, knocking back a gulp of beer with mirth finally creeping back into his expression. "Something stupid. We'll figure it out tomorrow."

"How do you always manage to get Saturdays off anyways?"

"Willpower, anger, and five years of tenure with the human resources department," Victor replies. Yuuri snorts. "I had to fight for them, but when we're really busy, Saturdays unfortunately become my only days off. Like today, for example, because Yura has managed to piss off yet another person from the event planning team."

"Aww, you poor baby," Yuuri coos sarcastically, patting Victor's head with his free hand. "How will you ever survive?"

Victor slumps down, puts his drink away, and drapes himself over Yuuri's lap. Yuuri, who has been on high alert since he talked to Ky on Monday, shrieks like a baby and clenches up nervously. "I have no idea. Horribly, probably, except for these nights we spend together."

"You, uh, you don't miss having your, um, company over?" Yuuri stammers, watching as color hurries up Victor's cheeks and decidedly creeps under his own skin. "I mean. I'm not. I'm not even, uh, more than a good friend, right?"

Victor flashes those oceanic eyes up at him with a wry smile, and  _damn_ , that's just not fair. He's incredibly handsome, and Yuuri's on the verge of hyperventilating as Victor lets his hands snake around Yuuri's waist. "I thought you liked saying that you were my boyfriend," he murmurs softly. A moment later, he stops hugging Yuuri and sits up awkwardly, leaning on one arm so he can look Yuuri in the eyes. "Would you like that? Dating me, I mean."

"Uhh," Yuuri replies lamely, too unnerved to do anything more than stare and babble.

"You don't have to answer right away," Victor leans back into his own space, keeping a respectful distance from his roommate. "Take your time to think about it. I'm serious about the offer, though. I like you, Yuuri, as a friend, and I could see the two of us together, if you're interested. If you're not, that's fine too, of course."

Yuuri just gapes as Victor leans over and flips through video choices until he turns something on, both of them mechanically sipping their beverages as the movie plays.

//

The next morning, Yuuri wakes to the sounds of Victor rumbling around the kitchen, hair out of sorts as he munches on a granola bar.

"Um," Yuuri sits up and stammers to his roommate, who turns at the sound of his voice. "I'm sorry I sort of freaked out on you last night."

"It's okay," Victor shrugs with a yawn. "I obviously took you off guard."

"I want to try," Yuuri blurts out before he can regret it. "Dating... _dating_ you, I mean."

Victor brightens immediately, dropping his granola bar on the floor to rush over and press his chapstick-tacky lips to Yuuri's cheeks. "Okay."

"I don't know about sex right now, even though you obviously really like it, but, um, I'm really comfortable with you, and you're a good friend. A good roommate. Let's, uh. Let's.  _Please take care of me_ ," he finally settles on saying that, and Victor hugs him even more tightly.

"Oh, I will, Yuuri," Victor hums softly, running a hand through Yuuri's hair before he dashes back to toss his ruined breakfast into the trash can. "Don't worry about that. I'd never pressure you into something you didn't want. What do you think I've been doing all these months I've been trying to woo you?"

Yuuri's mind races to the obvious conclusion and he flushes deep red. "Victor!"

"I'm sorry I don't have time to talk more right now, but I really am running late. Could you lock the door?" Yuuri nods and Victor waves, grinning widely. "See you later!"

Yuuri watches him go to his car and pump his fist, so he giggles and bundles his whole body tightly underneath the covers.

Later that day, he sends his coworker a message, begrudgingly telling Ky the good news.

//

The next few months, the two of them just test the waters. Yuuri is skittish, generally, when the two of them are out together, so Victor learns to ask permission for every little thing he wants to do. Yuuri tells stories of his two friends in Detroit and a young pen pal he's had since he was twenty. Victor slowly works Yuuri up to holding hands with him while he speaks at the grocery store, to hugging him softly when they go shopping for clothes and gifts for Yuuri's parents, and kissing him warmly in the car when they pull off and drive home. 

Tipsy Yuuri is a different problem entirely.

He is hands-on, babbling sweet nothings in Victor's ears. He always talks about how lucky he is to have Victor, curious about how many sex positions he knows. Yuuri asks whether he can dance, so the two of them wind up clearing their living room one night and spinning wildly around the condo, much to their collective amusement. He usually remembers his actions in the morning and is frequently embarrassed, but Victor just assures him with soft touches that he's fine, and he likes it when Yuuri lets loose and speaks his mind.

It takes about four months for Yuuri to feel comfortable initiating the hugs and kisses. It takes two more months for him to tipsily admit that he's interested to see what Victor looks like undressed. It takes one more month for them to fight about something excessively stupid, spend the night watching silly videos, and finally, after seven and a half months, Yuuri soberly comes down to Victor's room on a Friday night after work, and knocks gently, feeling nervous.

He feels a bit dumb for letting their fight escalate so badly, and they've both apologized. Yuuri had ordered something of a surprise before they'd fought, and he wants to melt into the floor when it arrives.

Never in one million years did he think that he, a nerdy businessman to the core, would be fidgeting at his boyfriend's door with a flush coloring all of his skin, wearing very little under his robe. Victor opens the door with a yawn, moving away from his PC to welcome Yuuri inside. He's been in Victor's room a few times, and Victor usually leaves the door open when he's sleeping, but it's an old habit for him to close it so Yuuri can't hear him masturbating.

Yuuri screws his eyes shut and drops his robe before he can talk himself out of it and Victor stares at him slack-jawed.

"Um, I, er - does it look bad?" Yuuri is wearing a thin lace blouse, with bright blue sleeves and a weaving pattern that left just the right amount to the imagination. His bottoms are shaped like short briefs, but they're lace as well, and black. "I know they don't match, and I kind of ordered this outfit on a whim."

"No," Victor steps forward in awe, reaching out to touch Yuuri like he's not really sure the other man is real or not. He blinks, shakes the fog out of his head, and says, "It looks great.  _You_ look amazing." Yuuri's cheeks turn an even darker red and Victor keeps grinning like an idiot. "What brought this on?"

"I just wanted to dress up, I guess," Yuuri whispers softly, smiling back as Victor leans down and reverently touches all of the textured fabric. "I bought it on an impulse, so I'm just really glad everything fit. I don't look fat?"

"A little chubby, perhaps, but I adore this," Victor says truthfully, laughing as he takes Yuuri by the hand and leads him to the bed. "I've told you a million times that you look gorgeous. Glad to have something to hold onto when I hold you close, because otherwise I feel like you'd just float away." Yuuri mutters at that and Victor pinches his thigh with a sly look. "My handsome man."

"You, of all people, have no right to call me handsome," Yuuri quips back easily, pulling Victor down on the mattress with him and kissing him slowly. Victor contentedly hums in response, hands smoothing over the fabric as the kiss becomes deeper and he then moans. Yuuri pulls back, teeth dragging on Victor's lower lip as he goes. "Do you, um, are you interested in, ah, um,  _touching me_?"

"Well,  _yeah_ ," Victor says easily, sure that he's dreaming while he catches his breath. "But do you want me to? We shouldn't do anything you're uncomfortable with."

"I want to," Yuuri replies earnestly, eyes watery. "I'm nervous. I'm  _really_ nervous, but I want to. Maybe just...take it slow?"

Victor licks his lips. "Alright. Please tell me if I do anything that's even remotely uncomfortable. I want this be good for you." Yuuri nods slowly, watching as Victor's hands slip on the elastic waistband of the underwear. He keeps his hands at Yuuri's hips and studies the skin there, loving the feeling of the material on his fingertips. "God. Oh, Yuuri, I love the way these fit." Victor pulls his index finger all the way around the rim of the bottoms, then slips his fingers over the bare skin of Yuuri's ass and kisses Yuuri quickly on the lips. "You really turn me on."

Yuuri squeaks, burying his face in Victor's shoulder and enjoying the feeling of his somewhat chapped lips sliding on Victor's shoulder while Victor explores. "Really?"

Victor adjusts the both of them so that his lower half is flush against Yuuri's, and he's hard -  _really hard_. Yuuri chokes on his spit. " _Yes_." He slowly takes his hand back out and kisses Yuuri's jaw. "Still okay?"

"Yeah," Yuuri shakily answers. "You can keep going."

Victor slips Yuuri's underwear down and chuckles to find him half-hard, wriggling on the bed a bit, the shirt riding up his abdomen. Victor bends at his middle and breathes hot over Yuuri's dick, flicking his eyes up at his partner. "How do you feel?"

"Embarrassed, mostly," Yuuri admits, wheezing when Victor rolls over and reaches in a box. "You keep fresh condoms so close?"

"I'm an optimist," Victor shrugs with an easy smile. "Also, I just like to have sex. Do you want to see it?"

"Why?" Yuuri asks, squeezing his eyes shut and reaching his hand out.

"To check the date," Victor suggests, and Yuuri's eyes bug out. "Or to use it on yourself?"

"What? Wait, huh?" Yuuri flushes hot again, nervously dropping the condom. "Date? Put it on? Um?"

"They expire, you know," Victor tells him sweetly, sitting back up so he can comfortably hold Yuuri's hand. "Not for a long time, but the nice ones take about two to three years to expire. The second part was more of a question. I was going to suck you off, but I won't if you don't want me to."

Yuuri blanks for a while, so Victor sits back and stares at him with a loving smile, tracing comfortable circles on Yuuri's thighs. When he finally snaps back to reality, he says, "Maybe...maybe next time?"

"Yeah," Victor replies quietly, kissing Yuuri's hand. Yuuri leans down to kiss him more fully on the mouth for a long time, and then the two of them just lie in bed, holding each other in their arms. "We'll take it slow if you want, or we don't have to do anything. It's up to you, sweets."

"Sweets," Yuuri repeats, flushing a bit against Victor's chest. "That's a dumb nickname."

"You don't like it?"

"It's fine," Yuuri replies, rolling his eyes. "I was just thinking that underneath that suave exterior, you were just a cheesy dork after all."

Victor laughs and curls further into Yuuri's warmth. "I am wounded." The two of them fall asleep like that, a little keyed up and ultimately satisfied with the evening's events.

//

That night becomes a catalyst of change in their relationship. By the eight month mark, Yuuri comes into work looking refreshed if Victor has time to mess around and share his bed, or dejected when Victor has to travel and handle important business with the hotel. He knows that he's not much better, as far as scheduled alone time goes, because Yuuri always has work to do, even at home. The unfortunate part of working for an international business is that someone on the other side of the world has just gotten up when he's ready to go to bed.

Still, the two of them get to enjoy some of the best parts of being roommates and lovers. They get to romp around in their briefs and tickle each other, press cold hands to each other's faces, pull off the blankets, and lastly, sell their extra mattress on ebay to turn the second room into a full-blown office. They reach the nine month mark of being together before they both realize that they haven't taken their paid vacations this year. Victor remarks that he hasn't taken his in two years; he's only taken a handful of sick days, because he's a workaholic. Yuuri says that last year he used his to go home and see his friends and family in Detroit, which Victor had known already, but still, it had been over a year since he'd done that.

They talk about taking a vacation in the Fall, since Summers in San Diego are beautiful. Prices spike around their birthdays, so they decide on going in October. They both post notices for the week they're going to take off months in advance.

Victor finds himself falling more and more in love with Yuuri, much to his own surprise, so he decides to act on his instinct and propose to his boyfriend when they go.

Yuuri, on the other hand, decides that when they get there, he'll have few thoughts about his work stress clouding his mind, and that's when he's going to finally have sex with Victor. Victor's been patient, teaching him to do many sexual things, but Yuuri still hasn't been penetrated, and he's taken aback to find that he's  _daydreaming_ about it. Ky has called him out for that at work, and Yuuri embarrassingly wills away his sudden stiffies.

They fly out on the latest flight they can book, eagerly driving home from work. Victor packs in advance. Yuuri packs at the last minute.

Both men check their bags and exhaustedly wait to get on the plane. Once they get on, the two of them fall asleep and wait to wake up in Florence. It's a city that Yuuri has always wanted to go to, and Victor is eager to visit, because it's beautiful. They get there, check into their hotel with an unreal amount of exhaustion because they had to change planes in Amsterdam, and the time adjustment is a bitch and a half. Yuuri sleeps most of the day away, so Victor wanders the streets and takes in the rustic old bridges and array of motorbikes jetting around.

Yuuri wakes up in the middle of the evening, Florence time, so Victor grabs him by the hand, wraps a scarf around his neck, and they go walking by the river.

Yuuri smiles at everything around them, taking in the smells and sights. The streets are awkward to walk on with the cobblestone pavings and the air is damp, but Victor's hand is a comfort at his side. Both of them wander closer to the sidewalks when they hear cars coming, but overall, the dimly lit buildings - in their pastel oranges, yellows, and reds - enamor them, and they fall deeper in love with each other.

They stop to take a picture together, hugging each other close. They go to a pizzeria to take their food back to the hostel, and as soon as they finish eating, the two of them take each other in.

Victor kisses Yuuri behind the ear as he helps Yuuri out of his sweater. Yuuri turns around and grins at Victor as he lifts the taller man's shirt up. Yuuri giggles and asks, "Are you going to stand there and stare at me, or are you going to do something?"

Victor loves his boyfriend, so he lifts Yuuri in his arms and softly deposits him on the bed, unbuttoning his jeans. "You want to go all the way?"

"Wanted to for a while," Yuuri admits, shimmying out of his slacks. "Never had the time."

"Hmm," Victor replies, stopping to dig through his bag and grab lubricant and a handful of condoms. "Good thing I came prepared."

"Figured you would," Yuuri says, wiggling his ass at Victor on the bed. "Come on."

"Oh, I'll come, alright," Victor promises, blowing raspberries on the back of Yuuri's neck and making the shorter man giggle wildly. "We can always stop if you decide you don't want to, just so you know."

"I'll let you know," Yuuri replies calmly, pulling his glasses off and rubbing himself on Victor's side. "I'm good for now. I want this. Please."

Victor leans down, takes a deep breath, and kisses Yuuri's back. "Okay."

As soon as he says that, he fumbles with the cap of the lube, spreads it over his fingers, and waits until it's warm. He warns Yuuri that he's going to insert his fingers, and Yuuri shakily breathes out that he's ready. Victor and Yuuri hold their breaths, Victor trying valiantly to keep from romping all over his boyfriend and jutting his erection between the warm space of Yuuri's thighs. He coos that Yuuri needs to relax, waits until Yuuri does, and then he probes more deeply, still trying not to screw this up.

Usually, he feels more confident. Until the last year, he hadn't realized that sex  _could_ feel like this, warm and trusting and  _raw_ again. Yuuri almost painfully clenches when Victor puts in a second finger, his tan hands fisting the bedsheets tightly. "Relax," Victor coos again. "I can stop?"

"No," Yuuri grunts out stubbornly, huffing.

Victor delves into him more slowly, searching for his prostate. He thinks his nail brushes against it, because even though he's not sure Yuuri can feel it, Yuuri's back arches into a prominent bow and his responding moan is low and broken. "What was that?"

" _That_ is how men are pleasured, darling," Victor licks his lips, finally feeling the mood lift from heavy and serious to sexual and playful. This is more his element. "I can do it again."

"God yes," Yuuri says, his voice already raspy and blissed-out. Victor gulps as Yuuri tosses his bedroom eyes over his shoulder. "Do it again." He relaxes, Victor probes for that spot again, and Yuuri bites his lip in pleasure, his moan rumbling against Victor's chest. Victor hungrily rubs the spot with two fingers, watching Yuuri come undone and squirm at his movements. "Stop, I'm gonna...gonna come, don't want to yet."

"Alright," Victor concedes easily, wiping his hand on the sheets before he kisses Yuuri's back slowly, running his hands up Yuuri's chest.

"I want to have sex," Yuuri says sloppily, turning over in Victor's arms so that he can give his tall boyfriend a messy kiss. "For real this time. Please?" He's hard, and when he rolls his hips, his and Victor's dicks slip together, eliciting grunts and moans from both of them.

"If you want to," Victor whispers at the corner of Yuuri's mouth, breath hot on Yuuri's face.

Yuuri grabs Victor by his hair and purrs, bringing their lips just moments away from each other. "I want to."

Victor grins widely, breathes in deeply, and helps Yuuri turn back over again. He rolls on a condom, slicks himself and Yuuri up, and waits until Yuuri gives the okay to sink his weight into the younger man. As he goes, he listens to every hitch of Yuuri's breath, waits to see what he says, and moves as soon as Yuuri dazedly snaps that he needs more friction. Victor eagerly listens, and the two of them have soppy sex, murmuring each other's names and profanities for a few minutes. Victor pulls out just before he comes, Yuuri comes messily in his hand, and the two of them stare at each other in awe, flushed hot and sweaty all over.

"That...was  _amazing_ ," Yuuri breathes, looking at Victor with a faraway look in his eyes. "I'm glad I waited to share this experience with you."

"I'm sorry I didn't," Victor replies quietly, simply holding his boyfriend in his arms and grinning softly. "You did great."

"You made it great for me," Yuuri replies, closing his eyes as Victor cleans up.

//

The rest of the trip is full of sightseeing. Victor and Yuuri go to various art museums, eat sandwiches on hot focaccia bread, wipe gelato from each other's mouths, and grin at everybody trying to sell them selfie sticks in the plazas. Since they had refused to book tours, the two of them stumble through the city and find hidden gems. A trattoria in the residential area has excellent gnocchi with pesto. The beer and wine just off of the main drag is far superior to what they sell near the  _Duomo_. They realize again that they still love each other and want to spend time together, and Victor gets down on one knee their last night in town after they grab a post-dinner coffee.

"This past year, I've learned that I can be a better person when we're together, and I love how much you've showed me," Victor says, eyes watering when he sees that Yuuri is about to cry. "I know it's too soon for this. I know, but we don't have to get married any time soon, and I've been holding back from asking you for months now. You know that's just the type of person I am."

"Yeah, I know," Yuuri wheezes, laughing and crying.

"I'm not finished." Victor starts to cry too, opening the box. "Yuuri, will you marry me?"

Yuuri wipes his eyes and squeezes Victor's hand. "Yes. God,  _yes_."

Victor sweeps Yuuri into his arms and kisses him on the bridge. Several bystanders whistle happily at the sight.

Their last night in town is a blur of naked limbs and giddy sex, and Victor can sense that Yuuri is getting kinkier by the minute.

It makes his stupid thirsty heart soar out of his chest to hear every dry moan Yuuri has to offer.

//

When they return to San Diego, Ky looks down at Yuuri's hand and grins. "Nice," they say, patting the man who might as well be their manager on the shoulder. Yuuri colors and hangs his head, refusing to let his hands touch the keyboard. Yuuri looks at them for a moment before they put a hand on their hips and smile. "I told you so, by the way."

"I  _knew_ you were gonna say that," Yuuri groans, putting his forehead on the desk.

On the other end, Yuri Plisetsky yells at his boss, tells Victor to stop staring at his ring like a dipshit, and to focus on their current project. Victor yells at him, works for one hour, and then sighs at the sight of his ring again, flashing it at the blonde. In response, the young man flips Victor off with both hands.

//

Months later, after the two of them have  _beyond_ settled into a relationship, a woman at a bar recognizes Victor from afar. She sees Yuuri sit down after coming in together with him and heatedly whispers, "I slept with that guy once, and it was great. Is he your friend? Do you know if he's still single?"

Yuuri holds up his hand and grins, chest full of pride. "Nope," Yuuri replies, and before he can stop his stupid mouth, he continues by slyly saying, "The sex  _is_ great, isn't it? I used to always wonder why his old partners always came back and asked about him, but now that we're together, everything is clear."

She whistles and high fives him. "Congrats, dude! I mean, I only slept with him, but he was a nice guy way back then, so I'm sure you're happy. You are, right? It's not just the sex?"

Yuuri thinks of the nights where he broke down. The nights where he wanted to break up, just because dating was so hard. About how much trouble Victor had when they were first trying to have sex. The drawn-out fights. The passionate make up sex sessions. It's been a long, hard battle to be where they are, and he wouldn't trade what they have for the world. "No," Yuuri answers, grinning down at his ring. "Definitely not."

Victor slides into the seat next to him, kisses the crown of Yuuri's head, and the two of them lace their hands when they sit down.

Yuuri loves that he and Victor have matching rings now.

More than that, he loves that he can tell anyone he meets that Victor isn't his boyfriend.

Victor's his  _fiancé_ , which feels even better to say, especially since this time, it's true.

**Author's Note:**

> and so, after writing a handful of fics where victor is a total super weenie™, i crank out this, lmfao. :') i actually initially wrote this based off of a writing prompt, and then this monster of a fic was born. where did i go wrong. OTL
> 
> thanks for reading!! i finished this before ep 12, but i really hope you all enjoyed this regardless of that ep's context.
> 
> this has been one of the most welcoming and uplifting fandoms i've ever been apart of, let alone written for. i don't think that i've written this much fanfic for one show, ever. crazy. it's been an incredible journey and this fandom has been nothing but kind and gracious to me, so thank you.
> 
> i've really enjoyed the ride, and i hope you all did too!! happy holidays!! for everyone who's asked about me writing more, don't worry. i'll probably keep churning out yoi fics because i love this show so much. ;)
> 
> much love,
> 
> ash ♥
> 
> (ps - never be afraid to chat me up on tumblr!! [@wbtrasking](http://wbtrashking.tumblr.com/))


End file.
